Jason and Jonie Mellinger Connecting You to Tribal Missions 
The only thing more important than rebuilding this 185 is just about, a lot of things. I was grateful for a diversion from drilling thousands of rivets. Each tuesday a gentleman, and frequently his wife, bring us donuts and day old bread from Safeway 40 miles away. He flies his Piper Cherokee each time and spends the day volunteering around the hanger. To thank him, we do his maintenance for the price of parts as well as his annual inspection. This year, however, all did not go well as we found a little tiny piece of bearing in his oil filter. Yes, we do cut open oil filters and look for little things like that! That little piece told us that something was coming apart in his engine. I removed the engine and began to tear it apart. It turned out to be a main crankshaft bearing, which meant by the time I found it, it was totally torn apart.
Some of the parts had to be shipped out for inspection at a certified engine shop, and now after 4 weeks of waiting, I’m starting to put it back together. Going together is much more involved than ripping it apart. Much care has to be put into it to make sure that everything works properly when it’s done. The safety of our donuts counts on it! And of course the Nelsons.
Now I’m working on it mostly in the evenings and weekends since there’s new priorities in the shop right now. But what happened during those weeks of waiting? Surely we weren’t just sitting here waiting for parts and pieces… Of course not! We went to Alaska. What else could we do?
